Minsk (Menesk), first named in 1067 for the battle on the Nemiga, stands at the meeting of the Nemiga and the Svisloch, where, by one view, the town moved in the late 11th century from an older site on the Menka.
A castle of earth and timber with a stone church begun inside it, the seat of the Glebovichi.
Who holds it
- Name
- not pinned for 1200
- Title
- prince of Minsk
- Since
- not pinned
- Family
- see Prince of Minsk
- Confidence
- low
en.wikipedia (Principality of Minsk)
Lord in 1200
A prince of the Glebovichi line, not named for 1200; see Prince of Minsk.
How things stand that morning
Held by a Minsk prince whose name is not recorded.
Council
Not recorded.
Communities
Townsmen of the Polotsk land.
Militia
The prince's men and the townsmen.
Walls and castle
The castle (zamchishche) at the Nemiga mouth, ramparts of earth and timber; a stone church inside, begun in the late 11th or early 12th century.
Trade and crafts
River trade on the Svisloch and Berezina; roads to Polotsk, Turov and Black Ruthenia.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The town's 12th-century fabric is known from archaeology; its prince in 1200 is not.
Primary sources for Polotsk
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Chronicle of Novgorod (kept year by year; the Synodal manuscript written in the 13th and 14th centuries). Novgorod's own record, kept at St Sophia. Read online
- The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
- The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
- Charter book of Livonia, Estonia and Courland, volume 1, 1093 to 1300 (documents of 1093 to 1300, edited 1853). The documents of the Livonian mission: Innocent III's bull of 5 October 1199 calling for a crusade to protect the Livonian church, the privileges for Bishop Albert, Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen's acts for the see of Üxküll, and the later charters that settle who held what on the Düna.
- The Tale of Igor's Campaign (about 1187 to 1200 (disputed)). A poem on Igor Sviatoslavich's defeat by the Polovtsians in 1185 that addresses the princes of the day by name: Vsevolod of Vladimir, Rurik and David Rostislavich, Yaroslav of Galich, Roman of Volhynia and the Olgovichi of Chernigov, of whom Igor himself was prince from 1198. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.